On December 16th, 2018, a survey expedition was launched to explore the wreck of S-37 for the purposes of documenting the wreck and making footage available for the general public. A fishing boat charter was conducted by me via the "LetGo" app. Rick & Jeremy Dixon, a father and son fishing duo with an open-top fishing boat. Our 'Crew' consisted of the following persons:
(From Left to Right) 1. Rick Dixon (Boat skipper & co-owner, father of charter duo) 2. Albert Coulombe (Co-lead, lookout, survivalist) 3. Amanda Francis (Videographer, observer) 4. WeiHua Sun (Tech Diver, Artist, Videographer) 5. Myself (Expedition Leader, Financier) Prior meetings with WeiHua and the owners of the boat had decided on a proper course and plan of action for S-37. We knew the wreck was in a very bad location, and control of the boat was key to this expedition's success... the wreck lay directly beneath the 'rollers' in the Surfline. For the boat on the surface, it meant to keep propulsion up to maintain position and prevent being tossed onto the nearby beach. For a diver... we had some very bad images in our heads. Electing to explore the site using sonar, and diving it only if conditions permitted..... we set out! Initially, plans had been to launch the boat from Coronado, however, the entire area was being demolished and expanded so we had to relocate further south to the "Pepper Park" boat ramp.
From the moment gear was finished loading we launched the boat and immediately set out for S-37. The cruise through San Diego bay was a leisurely one, and it was a beautiful day. The United States Navy was all around us... We sailed past the naval base at San Diego, the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln, the WWII museum U.S.S. Midway, the futuristic U.S.S. Zumwalt, the Nuclear submarines at Point Loma... and as we rounded the point we even shared the channel with the outbound U.S.S. Boxer (LHD-4). I reflected on all the incredible firepower of these vessels, and I estimated that altogether they likely possessed more destructive power than all the firepower of our fleet in World War II COMBINED. A terrifying, and humbling thought, one that is not far from the truth...
Once we rounded the point it only took a few minutes to reach the area designated by the US Navy as the site of S-37. I positioned Albert on the tip of our bow as a lookout, since I had many conflicting reports as to the actual depth of the wreck and I wanted to ensure we didn't crash into it. However... the S-37 wasn't there~!
The wreck was slow to appear, and no visible remains could be seen, and we correctly deduced our GPS was slightly off to the Navy position, so we began to criss-cross the area to find our target. I began to get visibly nervous as we edged the boat closer and closer towards shore. The light swell beneath us rolled in towards shore, and only a few yards away transformed into huge breakers which barreled in towards shore with terrifying speed. It was an awesome spectacle, and I dreaded what should become of us if we dared venture too much closer towards the shore... And the closer we DID venture... I held my breath as we edged close into the huge rollers, and just as I was beginning to get second thoughts and call the whole thing off.... S-37 appeared.
The locating of the wreck had taken all of 10 tense minutes.
After suiting up, WeiHua took the dive and made an attempt to examine S-37 as we killed time on the surface... There was a slight disturbance on the water which we jokingly dubbed 'The Bleh" that we deduced was an area of calm created by the undertow on the wreck.
We joked and chatted as we watched WeiHuas stream of bubbles, however, it didn't take long before he surfaced with some rather surprising news... he couldnt find the wreck! Evidently in the short time it took for him to decend he had been pulled from the wreck by the powerful undertow. We threw him a line and re-positioned ahead of the wreck to compensate for the current... this time... it was a success.
The S-37 was, as WeiHua later described, less a submarine and more of a small reef. The entire surface of the submarine was heavily encrusted with barnacles, mussel shells, and other marine growth, several feet thick in places. There was almost nothing that could be identified just at a glance, and WeiHua struggled to maintain a safe hold of the wreck amid the rushing tidal surge. The wreck, facing directly into the surge, offered no protection from the rushing current which tugged poor WeiHua out, and then suddenly turned, to shove him unceremoniously into the wreckage.
The ribs of the outer hull were largely exposed, and proved a blessing for him as he worked his way along the outer hull... for the ribs served as handholds to keep from being swept away.
Over the course of THREE dives and the better part of an hour, Mr. WeiHua Sun explored the exterior of S-37. The dive was a complicated one, with WeiHua being torn from the wreck twice due to strong currents, and likewise being thrown violently into the wreckage due to the same inbound flow. Praise be to God that he was unharmed during this dive, because some of the impacts were quite hard, and only further attests to the great risks involved in exploring this site.
In my next blog on S-37 I will give an overview of our examination of the wreck, and reveal more of what we uncovered! So STAY TUNED!!!
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